Strong and Stable?

I used to know a wing chun guy who prided himself on being immovable. He actually got to feel that way by being relatively relaxed, but over time he confused cause and effect. Over the years he actively tried to cultivate the feeling of heaviness, to the point he became stiff and rigid. This came to head when someone came along who was bigger than him, lifted him off his feet and put him on his backside. Later on others realised that attempting to hold a space was not a great tactic and his loss of flexibility meant they where able to move around and take advantage.


In wing chun we use our relaxation and awareness to listen to the opponent and from there we can adjust to force them to adapt to us. However, if we insist with our movements and 'try' to overpower, we regress to the method of a bully. If chi sau is seen as a conversation, we use it to test our own beliefs before we impose them on others. If you do not listen, you do not learn. Self knowledge reduces the risk of pride coming before a fall.
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